Clarke Central High School senior Andrew Robinson stands in the English department hallway on May 6. Robinson was the 2021 recipient of the Eve Carson Humanitarian Spirit Award, one of two high school seniors given the ECHS award across the Clarke County School District. “I’d like to thank (English department co-chair) Mr. (David) Ragsdale for helping me grow both as a student and a person,” Robinson said. “I’d like to thank (art department teacher) Ms. (Amanda) Price, my adviser, who just always gave me somebody I could talk to (and gave me) a room I could go to in the school if I was feeling down or something.” Photo by Lilli Sams
At the end of each school year, during Clarke Central High School’s Seniors’ Honors Night, two students are selected to win either the Dr. Miller Jordan, Jr. Memorial Scholarship and the Eve Carson Humanitarian Spirit Award, both named after deceased members of the CCHS community.
“The Eve Carson Humanitarian Spirit Award was established in 2009 to honor the life of Eve Marie Carson, a 2004 honor graduate of Clarke Central High School,” The Foundation for Excellence, an organization that works to better public education in Athens, stated on its website. “In her brief life, Eve exhibited a human spirit that one yearns to achieve in a lifetime. Each elementary, middle and high school in the Clarke County School District selects one student in the exiting class (grades 5, 8, and 12) who best exemplifies the qualities exhibited by Eve to honor each spring.”
World Language department chair Emily Hulse is on the committee that selects the winner of the Eve Carson Humanitarian Spirit Award and says the process begins with teachers nominating their top choices of students.
World Language department chair Emily Hulse holds up the Feb. 2008 ODYSSEY Newsmagazine, which featured a news story on the death of Assistant Principal Dr. Miller Jordan, Jr. Hulse worked with Jordan for a number of years and has fond memories of the administrator. “He was a very, very kind man, just so so nice,and loving and funny. His humor is something that you don’t get right away, but he was a really, really funny guy,” Hulse said. “He cared for all the students, especially those students who he thought were misguided, but he saw their potential, and so he never gave up on kids like that, ever. I think that’s why we made (the Miller Jordan Memorial Scholarship) in his name.” Photo by Luna Reichert
“(School Counselor Darline) Coleman sent out a Google Form to all teachers (to fill out). The teachers just choose a senior or two (because they) can make multiple nominations, and (the committee takes) that list, we look at (their) transcripts (and) we get feedback from the teacher who nominated them,” Hulse said. “They can write a little blurb about why they feel that this (student) would be a good fit. (The committee) discusses our thoughts on it, and we hope we make the right decision.”
This year’s recipient of the Eve Carson Humanitarian Spirit Award was senior Andrew Robinson. Robinson is a varsity athlete, an honor roll student, winner of the Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citizens Award for CCHS and is involved in various student organizations on campus.
“I’m very honored to receive this award. It means a lot to me. I didn’t even think I was in the running for it. I just was myself and I guess they chose me (because of that), so that’s pretty cool,” Robinson said.
Robinson, who will attend Harvard University in the fall, wasn’t able to attend the announcement of his award at Senior’s Honors night on May 5 because he was playing for the CCHS Varsity Boys’ Soccer Team in the Elite Eight playoff game.
“I couldn’t wait to get home (from soccer) and tell my mom (that I had won so) that was a fun moment. I was very happy to have received it,” Robinson said. “My mom was really excited for me. She was like, ‘Wow, that’s one of the biggest honors you can get. I’m so proud of you.’ And it felt really great getting home (from my game).”
Dr. Miller Jordan, Jr., who the Dr. Miller Jordan, Jr. Memorial Scholarship was named for, and was an assistant principal at CCHS from 2000 until his death in 2007. Associate Principal Reginald Thomas worked with Jordan as both a teacher and as a fellow administrator.
“When he was here, as an administrator, he was always known for working above and beyond for students who had challenges, mostly in the area of discipline,” Thomas said. “He made such an impact on the school community, with his leniency and his compassion and just (his willingness) to stick his neck out for students who were causing discipline issues within the school.”
“(Dr. Miller Jordon, Jr.) made such an impact on the school community, with his leniency and his compassion and just (his willingness) to stick his neck out for students who were causing discipline issues within the school.”
— Reginald Thomas,
CCHS Associate Principal
The awarding of the Dr. Miller Jordan, Jr. Memorial Scholarship has been a CCHS tradition since spring 2008. Thomas previously served on the committee that selected the award winner.
“The award is for somebody who has overcome discipline challenges. We get a lot of candidates who have overcome a lot of things, but we try to find somebody who, if you look back at ninth grade, they had difficulties with discipline,” Thomas said.
Offensive lineman and senior Montavious Cunningham, a then junior, takes a drink from a water bottle during practice on Sept. 10, 2020. Cunnignham was the 2021 recipient of the Dr. Miller Jordan, Jr. Memorial Scholarship on May 5. “I think I matured more, (and) I think I’ve changed a lot as a person,” Cunningham said. “School wise, (I’ve grown and) I wanna do school now.” Photo by Luna Reichert
This year’s scholarship was awarded to senior Montavious Cunningham, a varsity football player who has signed to play on the Georgia State University football team in the fall.
“It felt pretty good knowing that people (at school could) see my change, (and) see me improving,” Cunningham said.
CCHS English department teachers Jennifer Tesler and Brad Williford taught Cunningham in their Multicultural Literature class during the fall semester of the 2020-2021 school year and saw his character first hand.
“(Montavious) was a leader in class for sure. He was not afraid to be the first one to speak and I think because of that, other people felt comfortable. He helped to create a great classroom dynamic,” Tesler said.
Cunningham is thankful for the investment of time and energy into his maturation during the last four years by the CCHS community.
“I wanna give a big shout-out to Dr. (Xernona) Thomas and Mr. (Reginald) Thomas for helping me, and a big thanks to all the teachers that helped me, (the) teachers that believed in me and all the people that believed in me,” Cunningham said. “(I also want to thank) all of my coaches, (the) Clarke Central coaching staff, David Perno, Coach (Kareem) Marshall, Coach (Demetrius) Edwards, Coach (Justin) Jones, Coach Damien Gary. All my coaches believed in me and helped me through this journey.”
